‘Community’ Leaders Blink, Call off Columbia Center Boycott

Several community leaders, as they call themselves, have decided to call off a boycott of Columbia Center and surrounding businesses.

These leaders, including Rick Rios, Leo Perales and Gabriel Portugal, say they've reached a "tenative" agreement with the City of Kennewick to create a 'diversity commission.' This commission will reportedly address issues that arise around race.

The proposed boycott was threatened in the wake of a meme' posted on Councilman Bob Parks personal Facebook page. Parks refused to resign despite some calls for him to do so.

They claim the boycott got leader's attention, and opened 'lines of communication.' However, other sources say the extreme negative publicity and response this idea generated caused them to back off.

Rios, who runs a online broadcast blog called Latino Rebels, claimed to have support from regional groups in favor of such a boycott, however, no evidence was ever given of such support. Reportedly about 100 people commented to the city, after which they decided to look at creating the commission.